BMW and Mercedes may hook up for subcompact

Auto Bild is reporting that Mercedes and BMW may consider collaborating on subcompacts in the coming years. BMW's keeping an eye on the MINI plant in Oxford, England. If the factory doesn't run at full-tilt, BMW takes a monetary hit. Shacking up with Mercedes to build the next generation A-Class at MINI's facility and on the MINI platform would keep production humming right along. Other potential partners have been mentioned as well, such as Honda and PSA. Mercedes and BMW are working on hybrid technology together already, but Mercedes will only say that while it remains open to collaboration where sensible, there are no current plans to partner further with BMW.